


Shared Pains, Shared Aches

by SomePiece



Category: One Piece
Genre: 2nd person POV, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 06:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28720797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomePiece/pseuds/SomePiece
Summary: Law and you have a weird thing in common - an identical birthmark. After an accident that happens during a battle Law, sceptical about your soulmate theory, starts experiencing a weird pain in the area of said mark…
Relationships: Trafalgar D. Water Law/Original Female Character(s), Trafalgar D. Water Law/Reader, Trafalgar D. Water Law/You
Kudos: 42





	Shared Pains, Shared Aches

The smarting started anew and Law, even knowing it was useless, rubbed the birthmark. The dull pain was with him all the time since That had happened, but sometimes it was getting weaker and sometimes: stronger. He had no idea why, any rational reasoning he could think of wasn’t matching the symptoms. But he had quickly learned the stinging was somehow connected to you and your own pain. Yet another weird, incomprehensible thing you two shared.

He had this mark since he could remember, he even had vague memories of his mother being concerned about it and testing it for a possibility of a cancer. (Was it how his father had found out about- No, he didn’t want to think about it. Not now.) He knew it by heart, its color, its shape, the way it felt under fingers when he was examining it from time to time, just in case. And he had seen many, many other birthmarks, on dead and alive bodies likewise. He had never seen two identical.

Until the day he had met you.

Simply said, Law was both grumpy about it and obsessed with it. How could it be that two unrelated people could have such similar birthmarks? No, not similar: those were the same birthmarks, as if someone took a copy of his, transported it to a place where you were born and placed it in exactly the same place on your body. It was simply impossible, no matter what point of view he had been trying to use and explain it. Even for twins it was rare to share such a resemblance. And you definitely weren’t his twin sister. You were even born on a different sea. It had been bothering him more than a mere birthmark should, but everytime he had seen it on your body, it had been like a trigger and he couldn’t focus on anything else. His eyes and arms had been immediately reaching towards it, his mind wrapping around the topic. He had had to learn the mystery behind it!

“Maybe it’s the proof we are soulmates”, you had joked every time he had given up, grumpy and irritated by yet another logical failure. And every time Law had laughed you down. Destiny, fate, gods, demons, souls and ghosts: no, such things didn’t exist within his perception. And even if they did - they _didn’t_ , he never found a proof and he couldn’t say he had never tried - something in him had been turning at a mere thought of being controlled in such a mindless, pointless way. (Or worse, it would mean everything bad that had happened had a reason, some extrahumane cruelty that had sentenced him to- No. Not now.) Soulmates? 

“Life is not a romance novel, (Name)” he had been answering and cutting short any of your attempts to continue the discussion. **  
**

Or a folktale. Or a goodnight story told by grandmas all around the four seas and Grandline. Life was simply life, empiric experience starting with a birth and ending with a death. Anything besides that was simply bullshit, lies created by minds too weak to grasp reality.

“For someone who can’t explain a mystery with an empiric experience you have a lot of trust in your theory”, you liked to tease him and he had been rolling eyes.

But then That had happened - and it turned his life and views upside down.

It had been his own fault through and through. Everybody would have been safe, if he had controlled his tongue. _You_ would have been unharmed if he had turned a deaf ear and that one, little, irrelevant offence. What could have been a simple banter between pirates at a dive bar, had turned into a battle once he had opened Room. There had been many casualties (luckily, not on their side) and even more injured (including him) and he had been too busy to pay attention to you and your problem. And once he had finally seen it, it had been too late.

Bless Bepo, bless this selfless indispensable soul without a Devil Fruit. You would have drowned if it hadn’t been for him. He had jumped after you had been pushed through the railing, separating the terrace from the cliff and the semi-wild harbor below. But even Bepo couldn’t do anything against the rocks you had - almost fatally - fallen on. **  
**

And Law… 

He was still seeing this in nightmares. Your scream, your pale face as you had hit the barrier, half-decayed wood breaking under your weight and you falling, falling, falling…

Someone had had to guard you that day. Not only you had been alive, but also your spine hadn’t been broken. What couldn’t be said about other bones. But you had been breathing. Your heart had been beating. Death had spared him this one time. (What would have he done, if you hadn’t- NOT. NOW.) Once he had had you safe and stable on the submarine, drugged with every anesthesia he could quickly find and sleeping, he had simply collapsed on the first surface. And had cried, had cried and had screamed so long and loudly he had lost voice for days. 

When he regained consciousness, the birthmark had started aching.

At first he hadn’t noticed. He had been feeling the pain, but he had way too much on his head to take care of it. You had been his priority. And your pain had been much worse. It had been a cycle of fight, struggle and short episodes of drugged rest. Operations. Bandages. More operations. Pain. Tears. Your sweaty forehead he had been brushing your hair away from. Yet more operations. Massages. Putting immobilized limbs back to work. Even more pain. Blood. Patiently wiping your body with a wet towel since you still couldn’t walk to a bathroom. Apology after apology. Guilt. Tiredness. Tears, his this time as he had been watching you dragged out and covered in bandages and braces, laying flat like dead, your skin grey, your face expressionless, your lips he loved to kiss so much dry and fissured- He closed his eyes and he could still see it, even if you felt much better now and he knew you for sure would be walking one day. He could see it and he couldn’t scream. He promised himself he wouldn’t let you know about his pain. You had enough of your own. 

Law had been fighting for you and your health until he had been either collapsing or the crew had been dragging him away to let him rest. He had calmed down not until you could sit without help and could remain conscious without pain. Since that day he had more or less come back to his daily routine and decided to finally do something about the aching birthmark. He had discovered the pattern this way. When you were in pain, the stinging was appearing. Once you got your drugs, it was fading away. When you were anxious without him by your side or uncomfortable, it was smarting. 

He had tried to ignore it. His tired, guilt ridden mind had to project it. It was impossible to predict your condition and mood through the aches of his old birthmark. But whatever he tried to think of it, it _was_ happening. His own beloved empiricism _was_ proving to him it _did_ exist. It _was_ a fact. There _was_ a connection between the two of you and for some reason it was manifesting through your birthmarks, now additionally through stings of pain. 

Law rubbed it once again, out of habit. And eventually put the log he had been working over aside. It was the time for a doctor visit. **  
**

Your face lightened at his sight, all signs of fatigue and discomfort immediately disappearing (and the pain in the birthmark turned into light tickles). Ikkaku, who had been keeping you company, considerately left the room to give you some privacy. Once the door closed behind her, Law sat upon the edge of bed and held your hand. It wasn’t cold nor too hot and not sweaty, a good sign. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked and brushed your knuckles with a gentle kiss. Your smile was the best answer and he truly felt relieved the worst you could be was a slight discomfort.

“Just a bit sore.” Before he put your hand away, you caressed his cheek and goatee. Law barely stopped himself from leaning into your touch. He didn’t want to press you, not when it still could cost you pain.

“Want me to increase the dose?”

“Maybe a bit? Just literally a bit, I don’t want to sleep through the whole day.”

Quick adjustment of the drip and he was back with you, this time brushing your hair, messy from resting among the pillows. You were sitting, supported from both sides and moving your hands freely. Compared to the condition you had been in the fact you only had your legs - so far - still immobilized was truly a miracle. Law and the crew were doing everything they could to not let your muscles succumb, massages and rehabilitation were your daily bread. Maybe not the most tasty one, but definitely efficient. Thanks to everyone’s patience and work you were recuperating from injuries at lightning speed. 

“Do you want me to bring anything?”

You shook your head. “Maybe some cuddling? Please?”

“We shouldn’t”, Law sighed. “You’re not in the right condition and-”

“I really miss you.” You pouted. “I don’t even remember what your body feels like.”

The sting in the birthmark. Law rubbed it, a bit too aggressively and the sudden movement caught your eye.

“Oh. So you too?”

Law’s eyes turned into big and golden question marks.

“You can feel my discomfort in the birthmark, right?” You explained. “Mine hurts all the time.”

Now his eyes were wide open in shock. Law, slowly and carefully, crawled on the bed, avoiding your body as much as he could, and joined your pillow nest. After visible resistance he eventually moved even closer and let you lean on him. You gladly accepted this little progress and rested head on his shoulder.

“At first it hurt like everything”, you continued as he was slowly stroking your hair. “But the painkillers weren’t working so- You felt horrible, didn’t you?”

He frowned, “It doesn’t matter. _You_ matter. I just did what had to be done.”

You shifted in place, pain around the hip area made you hiss and Law immediately jolted, alert and anxious. You pushed him back on the pillows and moved closer, now almost facing him. As you reached for his hand, he obliged and let you intertwine your fingers with his. **  
**

“I swear I could feel it”, you claimed and clenched the grasp harder. “You blamed yourself all the time.”

“Do we really have to-”

“It wasn’t your fault, Law. It was an accident. It could happen anytime.”

His face tensed, lower lip trembled, quickly held in place by teeth. He bit jitteriness and held it under control. Barely, but he did. 

“I know you will drown me under a pile of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’”, you quickly cut him short when he opened mouth to answer. “But I won’t change my mind. You did what you could and even more. I felt it. Everything.”

He had to look away, but you still spotted tears pooling in his eyes, “I could lose you, (Name). One inch away and- Fuck. Back there I was sure I lost you. When Bepo was caring you in arms and your head just-”

“I love you so much.” Law’s voice was still trembling with emotions, even after he took a long, long break to collect himself. “I can’t think of a future where you wouldn’t be here. I can’t imagine it, I can’t word it, I-”

He stopped, sudden warmth pooling from the birthmark spilling along his whole body. It was intense, almost burning - but burning in a good way, close to ecstasy and yet, to relief of the thirsty who was granted a glass of water. Law’s fingers tightened around yours, his gaze met yours.

And your eyes were telling him everything. You felt the same. You were the one who caused that warmth. It was your reaction to his words. It was your love. He could feel your love. And you could feel his.

“How-”

“Does it matter?” You nuzzled up his chest, the rapid beating of his heart turning into the most beautiful melody you ever heard. “It feels as if we had one mind and heart, right?”

“It’s not-”

“-possible. I know. But would it hurt that much to believe at least once?”

Law carefully rested head against yours. Your smell, his smell, your pulse, his pulse, your breath, his breath: they mixed, they tangled, they swirled around you. And the warmth of your birthmarks was still circling in your bodies and flowing from one to the other and back. For a second, for a brief second, there was no Trafalgar Law and no (Name) but a one being. A one soul.

“Maybe”, he said slowly, his voice so distant as if he spoke to you from another world, “I do indeed need to change my views on… Things.”

His lips tasted like never before. And so did yours to him. Law thought of a warm honey as he was kissing you. And this thought filled your soul with sheer happiness.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! If you liked it, I'll really appreciate, if you leave a kudo and/or a comment (*˘︶˘*).｡.:*♡
> 
> This was written for a request on my writing tumblr some-piece. I encourage you to visit it, since I'm far more active there. And from time to time I am open for requests ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


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